Triple Play by Sloan Johnson
Publication Date: September 29, 2015
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, LGBT, Romance, Sports
Drew Jackson seemed to have it all. He has a family who loves and supports him, a tight circle of friends, and is a rising star with the Milwaukee Mavericks. Then, it all begins to unravel. Cam, the only man he’s ever loved, falls head over heels for Drew’s teammate. He makes a critical mistake in the playoffs that he’s not sure he’ll be able to recover from. And then, his world really crashes around him…
Eric Sapp may no longer play for the Mavericks, but he’s still one of the guys. No one could have imagined how much his life would change when he agreed to help his former teammates mourn the end of their run for the pennant. After stopping a brutal attack, Eric is forced to face the feelings that’ve been growing for his roommate, Drew. That’d be much easier if Drew wasn’t hell-bent on pushing everyone away as he recovers.
Neither of them were counting on Bryce Shaw. He and Drew enjoyed the one night they spent together, but knew it was unlikely they’d be anything more since they lived in different parts of the country. After Bryce is relocated to help a failing LGBT homeless outreach, he wants to explore something more with the Mavericks’ short stop.
As much as Eric wishes he could be the one to help his friend, he knows Bryce holds the key to Drew’s recovery. Will pushing the two back together be the biggest mistake of his life or will they all learn there is strength in numbers?
Review
In baseball, triple plays are a rarity; it takes extreme precision and teamwork in order to execute a play with multiple players involved. But it’s also more than that…everything has to be moving in tandem because one slip up can destroy a carefully constructed unit.
I’m not usual one to discuss life using a baseball analogy but it only seems fitting for Drew’s story because it’s titled Triple Play and that is exactly how many people are involved; although, it’s not on the baseball field…
In reading the previous two books, I had a good amount of background knowledge on Eric and Drew, but Bryce was still an unknown character. But from the start of the text, I knew, in a way, that Bryce was going to be the one that solidified everything between the three of them because he had the emotional strength to do so. He took charge and pushed when he needed to in order to make both Eric and Drew see that society’s view on things didn’t matter because what they felt for each other and what they gave to each other worked for them in a way that made sense and felt right so to hell with anyone who disagreed or looked down on them for their choices.
But having three people exist in one relationship can get messy and stressful; there are a lot of different emotions to take into account and handle with care, and for an author to explore three varying perspectives, it’s sometimes difficult to present a full insider’s view of the main characters’ thoughts and feelings when there are three people involved and equal exploration needs to be provided in order to truly see how their polyamorous relationship works. At times, I found it difficult to truly understand how Drew, Bryce, and Eric made everything work despite their dominating personalities and tense reactions to situations because I didn’t feel privy to all three perspectives at the various intense moments. I wanted to experience more of the development of their feelings and truly witness how it went from just fooling around and having fun to deep rooted feelings between all three, and while at times, I did feel like I got a pretty good look at some aspects of their commitment to each other, there were other times that I wished for more.
That being said, I truly enjoyed Drew, Bryce, and Eric’s story because of the lessons taught through Drew’s ordeal as well as Bryce’s commitment to help LGBT teens who have nowhere to turn or live. It filled me with a sense of pride to see three strong gay men work to help those who needed their support and do more than throw money at the issues. The latter part of the book truly illustrated how the three men had grown and transformed through one another’s guidance, pushing, and commitment, which is all anyone wants to experience in a relationship.
A complimentary copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.
3.5/4 Poison Apples
Also in the Series
About Sloan Johnson
Sloan Johnson is a big city girl trapped in a country girl’s life. While she longs for the hustle and bustle of New York City or Las Vegas, she hasn’t yet figured out how to sit on the deck with her morning coffee, watching the deer and wild turkeys in the fields while surrounded by concrete and glass.
When she was three, her parents received their first call from the principal asking them to pick her up from school. Apparently, if you aren’t enrolled, you can’t attend classes, even in Kindergarten. The next week, she was in preschool and started plotting her first story soon after.
Later in life, her parents needed to do something to help their socially awkward, uncoordinated child come out of her shell and figured there was no better place than a bar on Wednesday nights. It’s a good thing they did because this is where she found her love of reading and writing. Who needs socialization when you can sit alone in your bedroom with a good book?
Now, Sloan is a tattooed mom with a mohawk and two kids. She’s been kicked out of the PTA in two school districts and is no longer asked to help with fundraisers because she’s been known to lose herself with a good book and forget she has somewhere to be.
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